We recently connected with Kristina Shelton and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kristina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I started printing Direct to Film transfers when it was brand new. Our business started with a single desktop printer that I converted from regular ink to water-based fabric ink, and has grown to 5 large format commercial printers and a staff of 20. Although we are much bigger now, I will never forget the many nights I spent sitting on the floor of my basement, taking printers apart to figure out how they worked and piecing them back together. Back then there weren’t a whole lot of videos on the internet of how to do things, or what to do when something broke. I did all the maintenance and trouble shooting myself just from watching the printer and figuring out which pieces were connected to the problems I was having in order to fix them. When we finally got our second large format printer, we gave all the desktop printers and parts to another small business owner so they could get their start with them too.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a wife and a mama of two little girls ages 5 and 3. My business started in February 2019 when I decided to start making affordable t shirts for families celebrating their kids birthdays that couldn’t afford the pricing on Etsy. I made completed t-shirts for a couple years and after being burned by a print company in August 2021 I decided to get a printer and print for myself. The first printer we had took 12 minutes to print one transfer but at least I didn’t have to rely on anyone else. A competitor knew I had a printer and asked me to print a couple transfers for her when hers were damaged in transit, after trying our transfers she begged us to sell them. After saying no more than once, she started tagging me in other peoples posts telling them we had the best quality transfers. That competitor is now my best friend and my Print Operations Supervisor. If it weren’t for her and God we wouldn’t be printing transfers at all.

The print industry is full of flaky people that don’t have the experience, knowledge or dedication it requires to meet deadlines when things get tough. We print vibrant full color transfers for t shirts that are soft and durable with no minimum order quantity. We cater to small businesses and boutiques so they can offer customs without being on the hood for hundreds of prints. We are different then most print companies in that we view our customers deadlines as our deadlines. We rarely miss our Turn Around Time but when we do, we work extra hours, and upgrade shipping to do our very best to make sure everything arrives on time to the customer. We believe in full transparency and share an almost daily post with our Facebook community of the last order out so they can track where they are in line for production.

I am most proud of the community we have built starting with my staff. Everyone of them was brought into my life for a purpose, and they do an amazing job of taking care of our customers and making sure a quality work product is shipped. Our Facebook community is great about sharing ideas and tips, projects that they have completed as well as answering each others questions.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

We have grown our business through only word of mouth advertising. I made the decision early on to offer a referral program to my customers to encourage them to share us with others. They earn a percentage of each sale they refer to use as shop credit for future purchases. This started our growth and we have continued growing on social media by joining groups that have approved vendors and applying for and being approved as a vendor. Each group has its own community that exposes us to different regions of the country and niche communities.

My best advice for growing on social media is be you. People buy who you are not what you sell. Be consistent in sharing who you are, what you do, and your following will grow organically.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding part of my business and my journey is all of the lives we change. My staff is built of moms, teachers, friends, they all have a need, and my business helps other moms grow their businesses and expand into products and services that they couldn’t offer without it. I love having even just a small part in contributing to the success of others.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.pinkrailcreations.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/199706342295038